Highway Worker Safety Program Released

The Highway and Transportation Division previewed a new safety product to protect highway workers from job site injuries, which was recently completed by an AGC task force and Zurich. The Highway Worker Safety Program has been underway for two years and is a collaborative product with input from AGC's Highway and Transportation Division, Safety and Health Committee and Zurich. It includes training videos, Power Point presentations and text books for students and instructors. Highway contractors can use the materials as a full blown training program or use video and Power Point segments for daily or weekly tool box talks. Filmed at AGC member highway construction projects, the DVD footage presents real-world examples of job site hazards and preventative practices. The Highway and Transportation Division was also focused on the recently enacted federal stimulus legislation and this year's effort by Congress to reauthorize the federal surface transportation programs. Gary Gallegos, San Diego Association of Governments, discussed the difficulties of getting transportation improvement projects under construction in the current economic conditions. He welcomed the federal stimulus funds and said they would be put to work immediately. The Division also learned that the Highway Trust Fund is operating on close to a zero balance and achieving a good transportation reauthorization bill will require political activism at the national, state and local levels. For more information, contact Brian Deery at (703) 837-5319 or deeryb@agc.org.